Red vs Blue: Zero Chances
by GreenEarthEagle
Summary: Six months have passed since Zero launched his army upon the world. Now that the old teams are back together, they must face the greatest threat of all; Zero himself! With the help of the remaining rebel Freelancers, the Reds and Blues have never been further out of their depth! Sequel to Red vs Blue: The Second Coming! Part 2 of the Zero Trilogy!
1. Recap

In Red vs Blue, The Second Coming...

Six months ago, there were talks the fearsome Agent Zero had returned. This came after the wake of the revelation of Project Freelancer and the defeat of the Meta at the hands of the Red and Blue simulation troopers. Soon after, The Meta was soon confirmed to be alive, in the employ of Agent Alabama, right hand man to Agent Zero himself. And once again, Humanity was thrown in chaos, a mere year and a half after the deadly Covenant-Human war.

The Red and Blue Simulation Troopers were allied with the remaining loyal Freelancers, Washington, Illinois, and Utah. There, they tracked Zero back to his fortress, employing the mentally-detached Agent Indiana in the process. However, the loyal Freelancers were brainwashed by Zero, and employed to attacked the Reds and Blues, along with the mysterious Agent Florida, who murdured Private Caboose in cold blood. The Reds, Blues, and The Freelancers clashed, and Florida was revealed to be the former de facto leader of Blue Team, Leonard Church. Another ex-Freelancer, Tex, was in combat with Zero, who was teleported away with Zero.

There, they charged into Zero's fortress. One by one, they remained behind to fight off rouge Freelancers, and in the end, only Church and the corpse of Caboose arrived in Zero's gigantic center chamber. Tex was still in combat with Zero, but Church assisted her, telling her to look after Caboose's body. Church, however, stood no chance against Zero's AI powers, which even without would overpower Church easily.

The tide changed when Tex placed Caboose on a metal table, and pulled a switch in the hopes it would assist Church. It did, in some fashion. It brought Caboose's lifeless corpse back to life, and as such, Caboose assisted Church in battle. Still, thought, Zero dominated both of them, and they were about to be killed by Zero when a blast shattered the air. The other Red and Blue soliders, along with the wounded and un-brainwashed Freelancers, minus Alabama and The Meta. The Red and Blues soliders attacked Zero, managing to wound him in some manner. Just before it looked like the end, Alabama teleported in and saved his leader, also dragging the traitor Meta with him, who tried to flee.

It looked like all was saved, but alas, it was not. Zero had unleashed a massive army of Freelancer like beings from his fortress, who began to march across the planet, beginning to capture cities. The Reds, Blues, and Freelancers were resuced by a group of ODSTs that scanned the area before abandoning it to Zero's army.

The Reds and Blues were then summoned to the space-station-city The Cairo, and were met by Lord Hood. In a awe-inspiring award ceremony, many of the team members were awarded medals, and promoted in rank. It could have been said to be a fantastic peace-time event, if not for the bloody battles raging on the desecrated planet below.

And far away, Zero was torturing his current prisoner.

- - -  
War-Class Ship: The Terror of Power

Zero stared out the viewscreen of his ship. Soon, all that he could see would be his. Once he conquered the planet, and enslaved Humanity, he would attack the Aliens, and then they would bow to him. Prehaps he could do it faster if his...prisoner, would co-operate.

"My fearful, pitiful friend, why did you run away? You were defeated by that Sergeants pathetic machine! How could the man who has killed dozens of top-class soliders been murdered by a simple machine!" He spoke, his voice growing louder and deadlier.

A growl was all that came from the cage that held the man. Zero shook his head, tutting.  
"It's a shame, that fact you can't talk. Did Sigma do somthing to your brain? Nu would never do somthing like that to me..." The Meta reached out of the cage, screams coming, trying to rip apart Zero.  
"Good, you have fire in you. I will give you one last chance, which is all you deserve..."

Six months later, The Reds and the Blues were called back into action.

Red vs Blue, Zero Chances.

Authors Note: And here I am, back with the sequal to the hit story, Red vs Blue: The Second Coming!


	2. Rengaged

Red vs Blue: Zero Chances

Chapter I: Rengaged

"Hey." Grif asked Simmons. Simmons looked at Grif, giving him the famous 'evil look'.  
"If you are going to ask me 'why are we here?' then I will make sure to get Sarge to tear your liver out, give it to me, so I can tear it to pieces!" Simmons snapped. Grif, appeared physically shaken by the outburst, answered.  
"No...I was just wondering, why does Sarge make him call him Sarge? He's a 2nd Lieutenant now, so what should've we called him?" Simmons thought for a few moments then answered...  
"Lewey?" He and Grif then desceneded into a fit of laughter.

"So...how bad is it going to be again?" Tucker asked Church. He, Church and Caboose were sitting in the eating area of Blue Base. They all looked incredibly nervous about what was about to happen. In the kitchen, Tex was singing softly, and steam was coming out. All three soliders un-helmeted faces were horrified.  
"I told you, I've never had Tex cook for me! But you have a point. Tough people aren't always great at cooking" Church explained. "...But idiots are great cooks!" He gestued to Caboose, who was rocking from side to side with nervousness. And then came the dreaded words came...  
"It's ready!" Tex called out from the kitchen. A minute later, she came out, laden with salad, steak, and several other assorted food. She placed it in front of the three Blues, and they all took deep breaths and reached for the cutlery.

Sarge, Donut and Lopez all sat up sharply. "Did you hear anything?" Sarge asked. Lopez and Donut shrugged, and continued work on the new vehicle. It was a second Warthog, except with an upgraded laser turret, which could shoot through several people.  
"Anyway...I wounder how Washington is doing back with the Freelancers..." Lopez broke the uncomfdable silence in Spanish. Donut leaned down and connected another wire.

Tucker and Caboose painfully forced down Tex's cooking, shivering slightly when it touched their tounges. Church, however, seemed to have no dificulty stomaching Tex's food. On the contary, he seemed to be enjoying it greatly. Tex was absoloutly beaming at him, happy she had sucedeed in cooking. Soon, Church had finished his second helping of salad and steak, and was asking Tex for a third helping. Instead of giving him that, she put down her cutlery, and walked over, and wrapped her arms around Church and kissed him on the cheek.  
"Thanks Church...This really means a lot to me...Thanks." Tucker looked up, and said:  
"This is great Tex!" Tex gave Tucker and irritated look, and threw a plate at his head.

"Seventh Squad, come in!"  
"This is Seventh Squad C.O Idaho. What are you orders?"  
"We have intel you have arrived at Blood Gulch. Please confirm."  
"Confirmed. Orders please."  
"Very well. Please, capture the following members of the Simulation Troopers: Dexter Grif, Leonard Church, Lavernius Tucker, Michael Caboose, Agent Texas, and the Construct Lopez. Make sure Lavernius Tucker is alive. We need intel for our prototype energy blades."  
"Yes, my lord."

"Grif! Get down here!" Sarge called down. Grif and Simmons descended from the roof of Red Base.  
"Yeah, what is it Sarge?" Sarge crossed his arms, obviously too tired to argue with Grif. "It's been a year since your sister died! Have you forgotten?" Simmons informed Grif. Sarge sighed. Grif's irritated look changed to a hurt look.  
"No...I didn't forget. It's...just hard to think about it. I miss her everyday...so I just don't like to talk about it..." Grif went up to the roof again, and just sat there for a long time. Simmons tried to comfort him, but he was completly ignored.

Caboose and Tucker were sitting outside of Blue Base. They would've stayed inside the warm base but...  
"Why was Tex kissing Church so much?" Caboose asked with such obliviness. Tucker scratched the back of his head, unsure what to say.  
"Well, remember a few years back when Church said he used to date Tex? Well, I think they might start dating again...Tex and Church have both changed...For the better.." Tucker smiled. Caboose nodded, but was still obviously confused. Looking out towards the cliffs, he noticed somthing odd. It looked like grey blots were moving across the cliff. One was pointing towards him and Tucker. He leant over to Tucker.  
"Who are they?" Tucker stared for a minute, then realiziation dawned on him.  
"It's Zero's forces!"

Grif sat on the roof of Red Base. He was thinking, remembering all the happy times he had with his family. Sure, for the last couple of years before he was conscripted it was just the two of them. He looked up, and for a moment he wondered why the cliff face was grey. Then he realised six grey soliders were climbing down. They reached the ground and moved forward. The lead one yelled:  
"This is Agent Idaho! Capture the targets!" Grif yelled, and loaded his assault rifle. Looks like the time for war had come.  
"This is for you...Sis..."

Author's Note: Sure, it starts off a bit slow. It'll pick up in the next chapter!


	3. Brotherhood

Red vs Blue: Zero Chances

Chapter II: Revived

Idaho's forces surged towards the two bases, with Idaho himself was standing in the center of the base as the two teams fought Zero's warriors. They caught Red Team almost completly by suprise, knocking out Donut within moments. The rest managed to grab their weapons in time, and they engaged each solider one on one. Simmons and Grif were back-to-back, facing down two of Zero's warriors, one sliver, the other silver with yellow lining. Grif grinned.  
"Hey, this is better then last time! At least we're not facing off two Freelancers." Simmons nodded, making sure to keep his solider in his sight.  
"Good Point." The two soliders lept apart, towards them.

"Crapcrapcrapcrap!" Tucker dodged the three warriors who were attacking him. He had left his energy sword in his room. He swore violently again, then motioned to Caboose."Hey Caboose! Go get my sword! NOW!" He yelled. Caboose nodded, and ran inside. Tucker was now left to dodge the three warriors. He jumped high in the air, and delivered a powerful kick. It didn't seem to do much, however. Even though he had increased his physical strength after they all went to diffrent bases. He had to, since he had to face down CT's alien dogs.  
"TUCKER!" Caboose had reappeared, and threw the hilt of the Energy Sword to Tucker. Tucker easily caught it, and activated it, an evil grinned etched upon his face.  
"Now, you silent assholes...Get ready to see some powerful shit!" Tucker lept forward, sword whistling through the air.

Simmons had to jump back again, and again. His rocket launcher was on his back, but he couldn't get far enough away to fire it. Grif was litterly wrestling with his enemy. He swore he knew who he was fighting, but he couldn't work it out. It was obvious it was a female, and ironically, she was overpowering Grif. With amazing strength, she grabbed Grif's wrists, and threw him into the cave on the cliff, Grif screaming the whole time. Simmons swore, but then saw an opening. He punched forward, forcing his enemy to jump back, and Simmons fired his rocket Launcher, annilating the enemy, who screamed as he entered the void. Simmons watched the corpse collapse, and felt a pang of regret. Suddenly, he realised Sarge, Donut and Lopez might be in trouble. Jumping from the roof, he rushed to search for them.

Grif grappled with his female opponant, both precariously close to falling. Grif was tackled, almost thrown off the cliff. But then he managed to kick her off him, and jump on top of her. Delivering a punch to her face, the helmet was shattered, revealing the idenitidy of his attacker, he pulled back his fist for another punch, but lost his concentration when he saw who it was.

It was his Sister.

Grif swore, lowering his fists. It was his sister! She wasn't dead! But...was this is better? Being under control of the psychopath Zero? No. No it wasn't.  
"Sis...It's me! Grif!" He yelled at his expressionless Sister. She turned to look at him, and attacked, driving him back. He would have to snap her out of it somehow. he blocked a few more punches, and realised he was about to get a LOT of bruises. "Fuck me." Grif cursed. She jumped towards him, but he caught her, holding back her fists. "SIS! COME ON! It's me! Dexter! It's your big brother! Come on...Please..." She broke free of his grip and punched him to the ground. She held him down with her foot. Grif was completly at her mercy. Seconds past. Grif kept his eyes tightly shut, not wanting to see the image of his Sister murdering her older brother. But why wasn't he dead yet. He opened his eyes again. Sister seemed to be shaking. "D..De...Dexter? Is..that...you?" Her voice was shaking violently. Grif sat up, her foot sliding away. "Is that you, sis? Or is that Zero's programming saying that?" Sister smiled.  
"It's me...Big idiot."

Church just watched. He didn't really have to do much. Tex was really kicking their asses. About three of the strange soliders he could only assume to be Zero's, had rushed into the room he and Tex had been...socialising. He wished he was wearing his armour. It was always much safer to wear armour when Tex was fighting. One of the soilders was about to attacked Tex from behind, so Church jumped forward, dealing a powerful kick to the back of the head of the attacker. Tex punched the second solider in the neck, producing a sickning crack, and the third solider was disposed by both of them. Tex nodded to Church.  
"Nice work, Church. You've gotten better at a lot if things." She winked at him, and left the room, leaving Church's face to turn bright red from embaressment.  
"Shut up."

"RUUUUUUUUUUUN!" Donut was driving the warthog. Sarge was in the passenger's posistion. Lopez was manning the gun. They had run down three of the soliders, but a taller, stronger one was running alongside them. There could be no doubt. It was a rouge Freelancer. It was Agent Idaho. He was laughing, and he reached out, even though he couldn't reach the Warthog. "What's the heck is he trying to do?" Sarge yelled over the sound of the engine. Donut shrugged. Then the Warthog started floating. All three soliders started to yell. He had psycic powers! DOnut looked down, ready for his death. He was going to turn it over...  
"...You always did overuse your powers." Idaho turned to the sound of the new voice. The Warthog fell to the ground, the three soliders unharmed. With extreme suprise, they watched on as Agent Indiana approached Idaho.  
"...Big Brother Indiana. Not looking so well. Still gotten over her yet?" Indiana remained blank, his glassy eyes staring.  
"..."

~ ~ ~ AN: CLIFFHANGER


	4. Danger

Red vs Blue: Zero Chances

Chapter III: Revenge

"..." Indiana continued to stare at Idaho, almost not moving whatsoever. Idaho just smirked. Idaho was a bit taller then Indiana, and appeared to be about twenty. He had no helmet, revealing raven-black hair, and dark green eyes. His armour was a dead grey colour. As usual, Indiana was wearing parts of his dark green armour, the rest covered by a long green trench coat/cloak. His eyes were the usual misty colour. His face was unreadable.

"What, you've gone mute again!" Idaho yelled out, malice clear in his voice. Sarge, Donut and Lopez stood crouched behind the overturned Warthog, watching the standoff.  
"What in sam hell is going on here!" Sarge whispered. Lopez shrugged. Donut was watching intently. Indiana was still standing perfectly still, his glassy eyes staring into Idaho's. It seemed to be getting to him.  
"S-stop staring at me like that!" A large rock detached from the cliff, and launched towards Indiana. It stopped dead in it's tracks a metre from Indiana's face.  
"...Not good enough...Idhao." The rock flew back to Idaho, who leaped out of the way. Literally roaring in rage, Idaho threw the Warthog at him. Sarge and Lopez let go, but Donut was holding on still. Donut screamed as it flew towards the emotionless Indiana...and then stopped. Donut felt strange as his body levitated away from the warthog on to the ground. Indiana, still holding the warthog in the air, told Donut somthing.  
"Run far away."

The Warthog was pulled apart in midair with Indiana's powers. Tiny gears stood out, nails, bolts, everything was detached from each other. Idhao realised what was about to happen. The whole detached mass of parts flew towards Idaho like a massive swarm of bugs. They seemed to flow right through him...  
Blood began to pour out of his armour. Idaho screamed loudly, holding his arms. He curled up in a ball rocking back and forth. Indiana began to walk forward. Simmons, Girf, and Sister had arrived at the scene, and Simmons ran up to Indiana.  
"Hey, Indiana! Did you beat their leader?" Simmons asked. Indiana let off the smallest of smiles and kept walking. He adressed Idaho.  
"Idaho, I told you, you would regre-" He stopped. Looking down at his chest, he stared at the combat knige protruding from it.  
Idaho stood behind him, helmet smashed apart, grinning. He was holding a combat knife what was stuck through Indiana's chest. "You forgot, Big Brother Indi, that I had the Holagram ability along with my psycic powers. It's a shame...I thougt you would be better then that..." He pulled the knife out. Indiana coughed up blood, and collpased.

"INDIANA!" Donut screamed. He and Simmons rushed to Indiana's body, but were stopped by Idaho. "You're next." He murmured. He rose his hand to knock them away, when a swift orange leg struck him in the face. Grif had joined the fight. "Bring it on, you phsyco freak!" Idaho threw a boulder at Donut, who dodged. He then leaped out of the way of some bullet that rushed past him. Sarge and Lopez arrived to help.  
"Come on, Donut, Simmons, Lopez, Grif! Let's protect Indiana! We owe him this favour! That's our code!" Sarge yelled at the other reds. Girf motioned to Sister.  
"Sis! Get Indiana into the base! We'll handle Idaho!" Sister straightened up, and nodded, rushing over to Indiana.  
"Now...let's do this. We're Red Army!"

It didn't start well. Idhao picked up Donut and threw him at Lopez. Lopez caught Donut, and placed him roughly on the ground.  
"Madre ma dios!" Lopez cursed. He used his new jetpack to ram himself into Idaho, momentarily stunning him. Simmons jumped forwards, firing several bullets, grazing Idhao's arm. Idaho roared in rage, flinging rocks at Sarge. Sarge was hit in the stomach and thrown on his back. Grif, using an old tactic he used on The Meta, grabbed Idaho from behind, and wrestled his pistol away from him. As he fell away from Idaho, he fired several bullets. Idaho, however, stopped the bullets in midair, and grinned.  
"Die, bitch." Grif shut his eyes. BANG. Grif screamed. The bullets sunk deep into his chest. He fell to the ground, writhing in pain. They seemed to be hurting more for some reasonm, most likely due to Idaho's physic powers. Idaho prepared to finish him off when he was tackled powerfully by the least likely person. Caboose and Tucker had arrived. Caboose rammed Idaho with such force it sent him flying into a nearby cliff. Tucker leaned down by Grif.  
"Grif, fuck, are you okay! What the hell happened to you!" Grif groaned. It was too hard to talk.  
"Caboose!" Tucker yelled. "Get Grif out of here!" Caboose saluted in a random like fashion, and picked Grif up easily. He ran off to Red base.

Idaho had had enough. He pulled out a familier green device.  
"My dear, dear soliders. You are certainly powerful, but it was be nothing. Within the week, a small army of the soliders you encounted today will invade. You will all die. Lord Zero himself will arrive. You will all die!" He screamed in laughter as he was enveloped in green light and vanished. All the soliders yelled, cursing Idaho's rage. Donut collapsed from shock. Lopez needed an arm repair. Simmons and Sarge had to deal with major brusing.  
"Come on...We should go check on the others. Tex and Church should be at Red base by now."

Red Base had large chunks taken out of the roof. The battle between Grif, Simmons and the soliders had caused some serious damage. Inside, Indiana was being patched up by Church, whilst Tex helped Grif get the bullet out of his solider.  
"Hey, you're alive." Grif said sarcastically. He groaned as another bullet popped out. "Stop moving, idiot." Tex murmured. Indiana seemed to be avoiding everyone's eyes.  
"...Thank you." Everyone looked at him for a minute, then went back to what they were doing.  
"Church, we have a problem." Church walked over to Simmons. "Zero is sending an army after us. We can't stay here."  
"Do you mean..." Church began.  
"Yep, it sounds like..." Tucker continued.  
"Really!" Grif seemed excited.  
"Eh." Tex shrugged.  
"We have to go." Simmons finished.

"We have to leave Blood Gulch. For good."

TTTTTTTTTTTTT

Author's Note: Yep, this might be the last of Blood Gulch for a loooooooong time. Feedback plz :D!


	5. Unmovable

Red vs Blue: Zero Chances

TTT

Chapter IV: Unmovable

TTT

It wasn't going to take long to pack. Just a few things, that's all Indiana said to bring. Caboose shuffled sadly through his belongings, picking out his favourite things to bring with him to the Command Base. The shards of Church's old sniper rifle. A photo of Blue Team, along with Tex. Seven toothbrushes and a washcloth. He smiled sadly at these things, and then continued to pack some clothes.  
"...Why do we have to leave..."

TTT

Sarge stood at a long range radio on the table at Red Base. "Mhm. Okay. Yes sir. Could you also drop over some robot nuts? Thank ya, son." Sarge switched off the radio and approached Indiana and Church, who were waiting nearby.  
"Command will arrive in about twelve hours." Indiana muttered a curse under his breath. Church dared to ask: "Why? What's wrong?" Idiana gave Church one of his piercing glances.  
"In no more then ten hours, Zero will bring his full force to bear on Blood Gulch. He realises the threat you two teams pose to him, and so he wants to remove you entierly from the equation. He will come here, and he will ground what is left of you afterwards into the dust. You. Will die." The word DIE echoed in the room for several seconds. Simmons and Tucker, who were standing nearby, gave nervous glances at each other.  
"What's gonna happen? Can we win?" Church asked Indiana.  
"..." Indiana walked deeper into the base, mumuring quietly to himself.

TTT

Tex sat in the hallway of Blue Base. She had nothing to take, since she owned nothing. In fact, she had been sleeping Church's bed (whilst Church had 'graciously' slept on the couch in his room). Now, she was just waiting for Caboose to come out of his room, and then they would head to Red Base. Tex go tirritated, so she banged on his door.  
"Caboose! What the hell is taking you so long?" Thrity Seconds passed, then Caboose came out of his room, carrying a small bag with him. He frowned at at Tex, and just stormed off. Tex had never seen Caboose in such an angry mood. She shook her head, and followed him out of Blue Base.

TTT

Simmons, for what seemed to be the hundreth time, checked his watch. "Six hours until Command arrives." As if almost clockwork, Sarge barked at Simmons: "Simmons! Shut the hell up! You're making the rookies nervous!" He waved his hand in Donut and Caboose's general direction. It was obvious, however, that Sarge was also nervous. He was constantly pacing the base, and he kept checking and re-checking his weapons. Church sat on the roof of the base, staring out across the canyon. The sun was about to descend behind the canyon walls, and darkness would reign throught the canyon.

"What have I fucking done?" He murmured to himself. "I brought this shit on all us...It's my fault...It's my...fucking...FAULT!" He screamed the last word out.  
"...Why do you always scream?" Tucker emerged from the ramp. He approached Church warily, as if he would suddenly snap and kill him. Church gave him a blank look, his brown eyes scathing with anger. Church shook his head.  
"It's just that I'm what Zero wants! He wants me to be his weapon, to be his pet solider. I'm thinking about giving my self up..." Church turned towards the ramp. Tucker grabbed him by the shoulders roughfully.  
"No you're fucking not! Remember what happened when Zero took your will away! Do you remember who suffered! Do you remember who you killed! Don't you remember Caboose's fa-" His next words were cut off as Church punched him in the face. Hard. Tucker fell down the ramp to the dirt, Church coming at him with murder in his eyes.  
"You asshole! No one regrets that more then me! And you talk to ME about it!" He leaped on top of Tucker, punching him again and again, but Tucker seemed to just shrug it off.

Church raised his fist again, ready to smash the living daylights out of Tucker. His fist was grabbed mid-air by someone. Church turned angrily to the person, who was none other then Caboose. His facial expression was a combination of anger and dissapointment. He let go of Church and walked into Red Base. Church climbed off Tucker and leant against the wall of the base. Tucker got up, and was supported by Lopez, who had, along with all the Reds, come out to find out what the commotion was.  
"What...the hell happened out here?" Grif asked Tucker. Tucker shrugged, wiping some blood of his mouth. "Nothing. Just Church letting his feelings out." Church sighed and followed Caboose into the Red Base. Tex arrived at Red Base, looking after Church. She had seen the fight, but hadn't intervened, knowing what Church had experienced as Agent Florida.  
"Let him go. He has enough on his mind. Let's get ready. Zero's forces will be here within two hours.

TTT

And she was right. Out of the circular hole that Alabama and the Meta had created a year ago, dozens of the Freelancer-like beings poured out. They were taking residance in Blue Base, creating posistions, putting down turrets, forming ranks. The Reds, The Blues, Indiana and Tex formed a defensive prerimeter at Red Base. Turrets were set up on the roof, prepared to take as many soliders down as possible. After about an hour of eerie silence, the enemy began moving. "Two hours. Command will arrive in two hours." Indiana spoke without emmotianly.

One solider stood on top of a rock. Agent Idaho could see them all, the soliders. Using the standard microphone, his voice boomed across the valley. "Pitiful soliders! Listen to my masters final offer! If you surrender the one you call Church, we will simply make you members of my masters army!" He put his hands behind his back and awaited their reply. Thirty seconds passed. Out of no where, a sniper bullet whizzed out, missing Idaho but striking a solider below him. The solider gave a gurgle, and collapsed. The soliders raised their guns, and charged.

TTT

"Damn it! I missed him!" Church yelled. He had attempted to shoot Idaho, but had just killed one of the soliders, and here they were coming. The teams automatically leapt into action. Church directed them. "Sarge, Simmons, Sister, you take the hallway inside the base. Don't let anyone in! Grif, Indiana, stay up here and shoot! Caboose, Tex, Tucker, take the ramp and use everything you got to hold them back! Go!" Everyone went off to their designated areas. Grif approached Church. "Are we going to survive the night?" He asked, worry in his voice. Church turned to Grif and said defiantly:  
"We're gonna win, and if we don't we're gonna take these sons of bitches with us!"

The battle was joined. A dozen soliders poured in through the doorway Sarge, Simmons and Sister was defending; but they were prepared, with two turrets set up. Sister and Simmons fired away on them, whilst Sarge fired his Shotgun at anyone who got close. One solider leapt over the turrets and his hands clasped arounded Sarge's throat. Sarge couldn't break the super-soliders grip, and would have been killed if Simmons hadn't shot him in the back. The ramp was equally defended. Soliders went around the base to get up the ramp, but Tucker and Tex's physical strength were more then a match. Several soliders ran past the occupied Tucker and towards Caboose. Caboose panicked.  
"Caboose! Church says to help them!" Tucker screamed. Caboose saluted quickly, with an angry look behind his visor, and angrily fired at the soliders, who fell to the ground and lay still. Idaho's soliders were being slaughtered, but they just kept coming.

"Damn it! There's no end to them!" Grif yelled over the sound of the turrets firing. The roof had two turrets which were being operated by him and Church. They were taking down the soliders before they got to the others. Indiana had his Spartan Laser, firing on soldiers below. "We'll be overrun soon! We can't let that happen!" Indiana yelled back. A dull thump resounded on the roof. Indiana turned, and Idaho stood on the roof. Behind him, Caboose and Tucker, were wounded, but all-in-all okay. "Bring it on, bro." Idaho pulled out his combat knife and leaped at Indiana. He stopped in his tracks as he heard a very loud wooshing sound. "NO! IT CAN'T BE!"

Far above, a massive ship flew. There could be no doubt who it would be. They had fought, they had been wounded. They had defended themselves to an inch of their lives. But, finally, Command had came.

TTT

A/N: The rest of the battle will be in the next chapter!


	6. Warfare

Red vs Blue: Zero Chances

TTT

Chapter V: Warfare

OR

The Battle for Blood Gulch

TTT

They had been sitting in the damn warship for four damn hours. Every passing minute felt like an enternity. He had cleaned his armour twice, conversed with Zeta, and still the time crawled past. Agent Illinois hated sitting around doing nothing, because he knew every minute wasted was another minute their allies were fighting Zero's army, and he wasn't going to lose any more of his friends- not again. No weapons to clean, Zeta could just create them. He checked the mission clock...Still thirty minutes until they would arrive at Blood Gulch.

Utah, on the other hand, has sat in almost the exact same posistion for the entire journey. He didn't clean his weapons, and he didn't have Illinois's companionship of an AI. Utah had refused an AI, many, many years ago. Every now and then his head would twitch in the direction of the mission clock. His red armour stood out like a fireball, which wasn't exactly needed, considering his size. He was always this quiet, ever since a great tragedy. But deep inside his shell, he prayed his friends were safe.

"SOLIDERS!" The Captain's voice boomed over the intercom. "We have arrived over Blood Gulch airspace. Here is the battle plan. All soliders are to forms ranks once teleported down unto the ground with our brand new UNSC teleporters...Which have never been tested." Illinois rolled his eyes. "Anyway," the Captain continued "once on the ground, you will forms ranks and follow orders given by Agents Utah and Illinois. You will be teleported behind the Red Base. First priority is defeating Zero's forces, second priority protecting the Simulation Troopers! Get ready, teleport in sixty seconds!" The intercom began an automated countdown.

Illinois stumbled over to Utah, who had finally stood up. "You ready? Just think...Soon, as soon as we get through all this, Indiana, you, and I can all go get a beer from the Blood Gulch bases! Just think about that!" Illinois grinned through his blue visor. Utah clasped Illinois on the shoulder. "I'd like that. Now let's do this." The automated countdown reached zero.  
"Teleporter sequence iniated." Illinois yelled out to all his soliders.  
"LET'S KICK SOME ASS!"

TTT

Indiana and Church had been momentairly distracted by the passing warship, but suddenly Idaho was upon them with his combat knife. His lunged at Indiana, and missed only by milimetres. Church lept upon Idaho, landing a powerful punch to the arm, knocking him down to the ground. Idaho stood up, grinning with obvious insanity, and picked up a BIG rock. The rock twisted through the air and...

...Fell to the ground. Behind Idaho, a huge hulk in red armour had appeared. Agent Utah delivered a super-human punch into Idaho's side, sending him flying. He signalled to Indiana.  
"Help has arrived, dear friend!" And it had. All around them, Command soliders were appearing, battling the Zero soilders. Church rose his hands in triumpth, and yelled:  
"CHARGE!" And they did.

TTT

Tucker, Sarge and Simmons had ran out into the battle to help. They were soon joined by a grinning Illinois, whose armour had already been splatered with blood. "Hey guys! Did you really think we'd leave you to burn?" A solider lept at Illinois, who quickly dispacted him with two pistols. Sarge clasped him by the arm. "Of couse we didn't, son. But let's save the reunion after we kick these clones asses!" He raised his shotgun and charged into battle. Simmons grinned at Illinois. "Good to see you." He followed Sarge. Tucker decided to stick with Illinois.

TTT

Everywhere, Zero's soliders were being slaughtered. Tex, Caboose and Grif were busy engaging a group of them. Now, the enemy numbered less then fifty, as compared to Commands 200 soliders. Idaho was being smashed about by Church, Indiana, and Illinois.  
"Idaho, you were always so arrogant!" Indiana cursed. "If you wern't, maybe you would have turned out better!" He threw a rock at his head. Idaho screamed. But the scream became a laugh. Church was unnerved. "Uh...why is he laughing?" Utah and Indiana just stared. Idaho shakily stood, and pulled out a small, red, device. "This will call my master! THIS WILL CALL YOUR DOOM!" He cackled with laughter as the device began to blip on and off.  
"Does that mean...Oh shit." Utah swore under his breath, and moved in to give Idaho another bone-shattering punch.

TTT

Illinois kicked another solider to the ground. This was so easy! They were no challange whatsoever. Even as he looked around, everyone else wasn't having much trouble either. Utah, Indiana and Church fighting Idaho. Tex, Caboose, Grif fighting off ten of them at once, with great prowness. Sarge, Simmons, Donut, and Lopez, had grabbed the repaired Warthog and were driving around smashing up the soliders. Tucker by his side, slashing soliders down. Illinois laughed his laugh, as he knew they were about to claim victory. He summoned a new shotgun, and raised it above his head.

This is where things went horribly, horribly wrong.

Tucker saw it even hit Illinois. A dark red rift opening, like a doorway. A man emerged out of it, a man who's face Tucker could never, ever forget. It was the face of Zero, leader of the enemy army, and the original Freelancer. Zero raised a fist, and before Tucker could even yell, smashed Illinois to the ground. Illinois gasped as he hit the ground. Tucker ran towards him. "ILLINOIS N-" He was cut off as he was forced to dodge a large hammer swinging towards him. Jumping just in time, the hammer missed him by inches. Agent Alabama appeared out of the rift, imposing in his black and maroon armour, his Gravity Hammer on his shoulder.  
"Greetings, rat." He leapt towards TUcker to continue their long-running fight.

TTT

Idaho laughed in obvious insanity as Zero and Alabama appeared on the battlefield. Church and Indiana could tell that Utah's body drained of colour at the sight of Zero. Idaho gave one last piercing laugh, and then vanished in the (greatly-hated) green teleportation light. Utah began running towards the fallen Illinois. "COME ON!" Utha yelled in a desperate voice. "We have to save him!" Zero, in response, raised his hand, and at least three dozen soliders appeared out of the rift, charging Utah. Utah swore, and began to fight his wya through them. Church was helping, and Indiana was floating above, picking them off. And soon, Tex, Grif, and Caboose were making their way to their allies. The warthog was still driving around killing the remaining opponants.

TTT

Zero stood over Illinois, who was attempting to stand. Forcing his way to his feet, he faced down Zero. Everying he'd been working towards, he was going to do. He was going to kill Zero, and bring an end to this war right here and now. "Bring it on you crazy bastard!" Illinois instantly summoned a shotgun, and fired at Zero, who swiftly dodged. Zero ran in a circle, dodging every single bullet that Illinois fired. Illinois barely dodged a punch from Zero, and pulled his twin customised pistols from their holsters. Opening fire, he shot every single bullet into Zero. And they phased right through his body. Illinois, from shock, dropped his pistols, and fell to the ground. "What the hell are you!" Illinois spoke in a quiet voice. Zero stepped forward and picked him up by the throat.  
"Murder." He raised his fist, and punched. His chest plate crumpled, restricting his chest. The second punch hit him in the left arm, breaking it like a twig. Illinois forced himself to stay concious. "How do you have such strength...How many AI do you have!" Zero smiled and raised his fist again. However, this time, he stopped. He saw that Utah and the others had defeated his rift-soliders, and he couldn't let them interfere with himself and Illinois, also Alabama wanted Tucker. He raised his hand, and a great dome appeared around the two fights.

Tucker dodged away from the Gravity Hammer. He had to get close, and he had to be fast. One slice, and it would all be over for Alabama. Tucker lanced forward, but Alabama used the Hammer as a vaulting pole, moving away. Alabama gave a wild grin, and yelled out a single word: "SHATTER" He reached out, and a line of energy went from him into Tucker's Energy Sword. Tucker stared at the Sword. It had no real change, and he guessed whatever Alabama had tried to do had failed. He lanced forward again, and then somthing very bad happened.

The Energy Sword shattered.

Tucker was still moving forward, a shocked expression on his face. "...Oh shit." The last thing he remembered was Alabama's evil grin, and the Gravity Hammer swinging towards him.

TTT

"Oh my god! Tucker! GET BACK UP!" Church and Caboose were banging on the dome, yelling for their friend to rise. Indiana was chanting, thinking of some way to open Zero's dome. Tucker was laying very still, and Alabama was leering over him. Utah was punching the dome repatedly, creating small fractures, but no serious damage to the dome. The Reds rolled up in the Warthog. Sarge called from the drivers seat. "SOLIDERS! Stand back from that dome there! Simmons! OPEN FIRE!" The Warthog's chain gun opened fire, creating a hellstorm of bullets striking the dome.  
"Give it a few minutes..." Grif assured Utah.  
"WE DON'T HAVE THAT LONG!" Utah yelled back with panic.

TTT

Illinois was close to losing conciousness. Zero was obviously getting bored. "My dear Illinois. You didn't put up much of a fight. Even the Epsilon-solider was stronger then you. That why Utah lost everything. That's why you couldn't stop Alabama." Illinois gave a small groaning yell, and punched forward. Zero moved his neck, quite slowley, and dodged it. "Pathetic. Let's end this." He threw Illinois in the air, and as he came down, Zero gave one last punch that sent Illinois into the ground, creating a small crater. And there, Illinois lay still, his breathing coming in short bursts. Zero turned to Alabama, who slung Tucker over his shoulder.  
"Come, Alabama. We're done with these pathetic soliders. Illinois does not have long for this world. With that one..." He motioned to Tucker "...we can learn why the blade chose him. If you would, Alabama." Alabama nodded. The green light surrounded them, and they were gone, along with the shield dome.

Utah instantly ran forward, reaching his fallen friend. Illinois was still breathing and concious, but only barely. He looked up at Utah, and managed to speak a little. "...Utah...helmet...off..." Utah realised he wanted his helmet off. Gently, Utah pulled off his helmet, revealing Illinois's blue-black hair, and his grin was still there, albieit weakly. "Hey...man...Still gotta buy that drink for you and Indi..." Forcing his hand up, he grapsed Utah's hand. Church and Indiana joined Utah around Illinois. The Reds, Caboose and Tex waited some way away. "Let them have their moment." Tex told them.

Illinois stared right at Indiana. "Hey, you take care of the big guy, okay? Someone...needs to keep him together." He smiled weakly. Indiana reached down, and there was actually some colour in his eyes. It took Church a minute to realise they were tears. "Don't say that." Illinois shook his head. "No...It's over...Indi." Church lent down. "Illinois...thank you for helping us." Illinois grinned for a second. Utah..." Utah leaned in closer. "Yes?" Illinois gave him a serious look. "Take Zeta. He needs a new owner. Take him, give him to one of the soliders for safe-keeping..." Utah then gave a gasp, and pulled Illinois into a hug, a hug from the gentle giant. "My dear friend..."

Illinois just smiled, finding comfort in his best friends embrace. He knew now was his time to go. He sighed, a long, drawn-out sigh.

"Bye...buddy." Illinois's head drooped, his last smile etched on his face. Utah head leaned up slightly. "Illinois?"

"Andrew?"

That day, they lost somthing that could never be returned to them.

TTT

A/N: Wow. I think this may be my best chapter yet. This chapter was longer, because I wanted The Battle of Blood Gulch to be an important event in the Zero Trilogy. Illinois, real name Andrew, shall be remembered.


	7. Sacrifice

Red vs Blue: Zero Chances

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Chapter VI: Sacrifice

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The service was short, only a single hour. They were all there, by Illinois's body. His body was clean, still in his black armour. His helmet was off, exposing his face. The smile was still on his face. Utah kneeled before his body, tears streaming down his face. Sarge stood beside him, his hand on his shoulder. Grif stood with Simmons, in quiet awe that their Freelancer friend was actually dead. Caboose and Donut were also watching, along with Sister. Caboose kept looking around for Tucker, only to realise that his friend was gone.

Seven soliders stood forward in a line, and fired seven shots from their rifles, a final salute to the great solider Illinois. And then, he was placed in a grave behind Red Base, and then they filled in the grave. Utah looked at Illinois's smiling face one last time, and that was all. Within moments, they stood waiting to be teleported up to the battleship.

TTT

Immediatly upon arriving in the ship, an announcement boomed over the intercom. It was The Captain. "Utah, bring Indiana and the Simulation soliders up to the Command Deck. We have several important topics to discuss with them." Utah, without speaking, motioned for the soliders to follow. Grif whispered to Simmons as he walked. "Man, the big guy really is taking this hard." Simmons gave him a scathing look. "You idiot, he just lost his best friend AND partner. How would you feel if you lost your Sister again?" Grif mumbled somthing and looked at his boots. Sarge shook his head behind him.

They arrived at the command deck. Two men stood staring out the view screen. One wore a standard UNSC Captain Uniform. The other wore grey armour. He turned as they entered. It was Agent Washington. In a few strides, he reached Utah, and wrapped his arms around (as much as he could) Utah's neck. "I'm sorry. I know how close you were to Illinois. He's in a better place." Utah nodded slowley, and everyone heard a small sob emanating from him.

"Now, down to buisness." The Captain began. "During Zero's invasion of Blood Gulch, Agent Illinois was killed. Luckily, AI Zeta was recovered by Utah. Our next course of action is to locate the other missing Freelancers. In specifics, we must locate Agent Colorado, currently missing on assignment, and Agent Oregen, also missing. Utah twitched resoundly to the news. Grif dared a question. "Uh, who is Agent Oregen?" Utah twitched again. The Captain nervously looked at Washington, and replied to Grif. "That infomation is classified. In any case, we must get your soliders back to Command HQ. We must also find the souce of Zero's soliders. If we stop them-" He was cut off by an explosion. The whole ship was rocked by an explosion that knocked several people to their behinds.

"What the fuck was that!" Church yelled above the noise. "Do you REALLY need to ask!" Donut and Simmons yelled back. Zero's grinning face appeared on the main viewscreen. "Hello, my dear Simulation Soliders. Did you really think I would let you escape? Please, don't insult me! As we speak..." A loud CLANK was heard above them, on the top of the ship. "Yes, one of my friendly associates have arrived to take you into my custody. Oh, and I wouldn't resist, he's pretty angry. Ciao, rats!" He laughed as his image vanished. More clanks were heard on the ships's roof. "Who the hell can survive up there!" Tex swore, checking her guns for ammo. Washington looked gravely at her.  
"The one man who has survived everything we've thrown at him. Come, to the escape pods!" Washington nodded to The Captain, and lead the other out of the room.

TTT

The Captain remained at the bridge. He tried to remain calm, and he did, but it was difficult. A loud explosion was heard down the corridor where the Simulation Troopers had escaped down only ten minute earlier. The clanks were now coming down the hallway. Slipping his pistol from it's holster, he took aim at the door. One of the soliders in the room activated the blast doors, which slided over the normal doors. Several other soliders took up posistions in front of the door. The clanking footsteps stopped in front of the door. Silence for thrity seconds. "Where is he?" One of the soliders whispered. Suddenly, with a roar that could shatter windows, the door was completly smashed through. Several soliders morale was shattered, and they fell to the knees, gasping. The Captian opened fire.  
"Oh my god! It's him! Agent M-" The soliders opened fire.

TTT

"Come on! Keep moving!" Washington yelled over the sounds of battle coming from the bridge. The Simulation Troopers were moving as fast as possible. Quite soon, though, the sounds of screaming coming from the bridge had stopped. Everyone stopped moving. "Quiet, quiet." Church rose his hand for silence. Silence reigned for about twelve seconds. Then the clanking footsteps started again, faster, following them.  
"Oh shit." Grif whispered. Donut had a mask of terror. "Let's get the fuck out of here!" Tex yelled. Everyone resumed the flight from the unknown enemy. But the clanking was catching up. Any moment they would be overtaken. "Stop..." Simmons puffed. "We need to take a break." Washington shook his head in distress. "We can't! If whatever is following us catches up, we're in big troubl...Oh...oh shit!" He cursed.

The clanking had stopped. But what had caused it was staring at them down the corridor. It was their longest-surviving adversery. He had been imbobilised, launched off a cliff, rammed, and left for dead. Even so, that had not stopped this beast. Agent Maine, better known as The Meta, stood down the corridor, armed with his inconic Brute Shot. He roared.  
"Ragh...WA!...SHING!...TON!...RAGH!" The Meta obviously wanted to settle things with his former partner, and had regained some kind of speaking ability. Washington gave a deep sigh. It was fated to come to this. "Simmons, Church, I trust you two the most. Get everyone out of here! I'll hold off The Meta as long as possible. Make sure Zeta, and more importantly Church don't fall into enemy hands! Go!"

"No." Washington was about to yell at whoever disobeyed his order. But Sarge wasn't going to take orders. He strode forward to stand alongside Washington. "Simmons. Grif. Donut. Lopez. Thank you for all the service you have given the Red Army these years. Yes, Grif. I never thought I'd be protecting a rotten Blue...but times are changing. Simmons, listen to Wash. Get them out of here. I'm going to slow down The Meta. And Grif...don't go dying before me." Sarge turned to face his enemy. Grif smiled at his commander.  
"Good luck, Sarge!" Grin called as they turned to go. Simmons saluted. Donut smiled. Lopez bowed. Church nodded. Caboose had no real change from his normal demoner. Washington clasped his allies shoulder. "To the end, Sarge!" They turned to face Agent Maine as the others ran down the corridor to the escape pods.  
"To the end." Sarge murmured.

The Meta had had enough of waiting. With a extremely loud roar, he charged at the two waiting soliders. Washington and Sarge opened fire on the charging beast, but did little more then enrage the Meta. The Meta threw his weight at Washington, who only dodged by a hair's breadth. Sarge unloaded Shotgun shells into him, but that unfortunently changed Meta's target to Sarge. The Meta punched Washingotn, who was embedded into the wall. Wash forced himself to stay concious.  
"Sarge...run...now!" He ordered weakly. Slowley, he began to squirm out of the crevice his body had created.

Sarge realised that if The Meta got one punch on him, or one Brute Shot shot on him, it was over. He fired the shotgun straight at The Meta's visor, surprising him and making him disoreinted for a split second. Sarge took this opputunity to dive behind him, firing another shell as he went. The Meta, being so hulkish, turned slowley, reaching out to Sarge, who slipped from his grasp. Laughing like a manica, Sarge yelled an insult.  
"You white beastie! You can't stand up against the leader of Red Team!" He fired again. Or, lack of. All that came from the shotgun were clicks. He reached for the shells he kept strapped to his chest and back, but found only armour. Looking up, he could see The Meta holding his ammo. Throwing them away, he lept on Sarge, who failed to avoid him. He was in The Meta's grasp now.

He could feel his bones aching. The Meta punched him in the midsection, breaking at least four ribs. Sarge forced himself to not scream. Washington was desperately attempting trying to free himself, yelling for his ally to stay with him. Sarge thought it was strange that he all he could focus on was The Meta. As he stared into that hypnotic gold helmet, he swear he could see Maine in agony, as if he was fighting a battle within himself. Sarge felt himself be lifted in the air, and thrown against the metal wall. He screamed as he felt two more of his ribs break, along with an arm and leg. He looked up at The Meta, who was aiming his Brute Shot. He saw Washington almost free from the crevice. Sarge shut his eyes and thought.

Grif being lazy.  
Simmons helping him in projects.  
Donut being far too cheerful.  
Lopez being a devoted robot.  
Sarge knew what came next. He prepared himself. He knew he would go out in battle, but like this? And then he heard a deep growl come from the Meta.  
"RAGHSORRYRAGH!" The Meta growled Sarge heard an explosion as the Brute Shot was fired, and then that was all.

TTT

The others reached the escape pods. Grif and Simmons were bringing up the rear of the group. Grif was worried. He had heard the sounds of battle, but was still worried about Sarge and Washington.  
"What if they don't make it back!" Grif asked Simmons in worry. Simmons shook his head. "Of couse they'll come back. Sarge is an excellent combatant, and Washington is a Freelancer!" Simmons smile evaporated. Down the corridor, they saw Washington running. HIs right arm hung uselessly. "RUN! MAINE'S RIGHT BEHIND ME!" He ran past Grif and Simmons and joined the others in the escape pod. Simmons moved towards the escape pod, but Grif remained.  
"Grif! Come on!" Simmons motioned to the pod.

"SARGE!" Grif called to the corridor. Lopez and Tex clambered out of the pod. "SARGE!" Grif yelled again, more desperatly. Simmons climbed into the pod, sat down, and held his head in his hands, sobbing quietly. "SARGE!" Grif yelled once more. Lopez and Tex both grabbed Grif and began to drag him to the escape pod. "Sarge! Come on! We're waiting!" Grif was thrown into the escape pod. Tex and Lopez climbed in, and sealed the door closed. Grif hammered on the window, trying to get out. He heard the engine roar, and watched as the pod was blasted from the ship, leaving Sarge's broken body behind.

TTT

A/N: The main problem of last chapter's delay was, I spent a long time on Illinois final battle and death, since I wanted to give the character a proper send off. As a side note, be sure to visit Rooster , the people who created Red vs Blue! Plus, I might add some behind the scenes stuff on my profile, Lemmy7003. Also, I'm expecting either praise of lots of hate reviews for killing Sarge. 


	8. Chase

Red vs Blue: Zero Chances

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Chapter VII: Chase

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It seemed to have taken so long, the descent to the earth below. In all truth, it took only twenty-four minutes, but it seemed to have taken hours. The pods occupants were silent, except for the sobbing coming from Simmons, Grif, and Donut. It was finally hitting them that Sarge had been killed by Maine. Washington held his arm, his helmet in his lap, his black hair covering his eyes, filled with hatred and anger. Sister sat with her brother, concerned. And above all, Church was the angriest. He remembered back in Blood Gulch, his fight with Tucker.  
"...It is my fault...and then you get your fucking ass captured...It's my fault..." Tex looked up at him, a sad expression on her face. He was taking all of the events of the last week so hard on himself. First Tucker being kidnapped, then the invasion, and then Illinois and Sarge. It was obvious he was being broken down.

"I've put down the co-ordinates for our location." Indiana told them. "We're heading to who Illinois wanted Zeta to go to." Simmons, of couse, got curious. "Who?" Indiana was about to answer,when a red light began to flash.  
"Everyone strap yourselves in! We're about to impact!" Washington yelled above the siren. Everyone followed his orders. Donut began to panic, covering his head with his arms and yelling. Grif lept over his sister, shielding her. "IMPACT IN 3..." Wash was yelling. "...2...1...IMPACT!" There was great roar, and then silence.

TTT

"...up...ch...ke...up..Uch...Wake up Church!" Church opened his eyes. Caboose and Tex were kneeling over him, concerned. Groaning, Church sat up, looking aorund. Most of the team were up and fine. Grif was still dazed, and Donut was still unconcious. Tex had a dark bruise on her cheek, and Caboose was nursing a jarred shoulder. As Church looked around, he noticed they were in a very dull area covered in snow. Perfect.

Utah and Indiana were standing some distance away, staring at a holagram map that was projecting from Utah's arm. Grif and Simmons approached the two Freelancers.  
"What are you guys doing?" Grif asked. Utah looked up. "We're sending a message to the Freelancer who is set to recieve Illinois's AI, Zeta." He stopped. Simmons tapped his foot in inpatience. "Well, who is it?" The two Freelancers exchanged glances.  
"I suppose it is fine to tell you." Indiana began. "He is Agent California, founder and former leader of Section 9 of the UNSC. Section 9 is a top-secret department that works on proto-types for weapons, armour, and abilites. Also, they have the power to do nearly anything above the law. California was assisting the Director in keeping his AI experiments a secret. And...What?" Indiana looked at Utah's map. Two dots had appeared, and were both approaching. One was much closer then the other.  
"That...might not be good." Simmons commented. The four soliders ran back to the others, who were all looking bewildered. "We have unknown targets coming in on our posistion. Likely they are more of Zero's forces. However, there is a possibility that one of them is the Freelancer California, who is due to recieve Zeta. Keep an eye out for-" Utah was cut of by Church's loud scream of "What the fuck!". A loud roar had filled the air, louder then any car they had ever heard. And out of the snow came a very large vehicle. It was huge, and yet, it was still fast. The soldier lept out of the way of the behemoth. Which slowed to a stop. The Reds, Blues, and the Freelancers froze as two turret rose to meet them, not firing. And out of the vehicle came a female voice:  
"Stay right where you are. I need to confirm who you are."

"Who the hell is this chick?" Girf whispered to Church. Church shrugged. Indiana, Utah and Wash were exchanging knowing glances. Out of the giant vehicle, a female solider stepped out, helmet in her hand. Long black hair, electric blue eyes, the woman stepped down to the ground pointing her gun at Washington. Her gun itself was strange, resembling the Alien's weapons. Hesitantly, Washington stood to his feet, and approached her. "...Hey Cal. Put the gun down, they are with us." Simmons got his feet as well. "So you're the Freelancer." The Freelancer turned to Simmons, but had lowered it's gun. She replied with a harsh tone. "My name is Agent California. I recieved word from Command to recieve Class Zero Tech. Utah,do you have it?" Utah nodded, and stepped forward, popping Zeta's chip out of his wrist compartment.

That's when everything went to...well, shit.

With twin roars, two Warthogs roared over the ridge, charging them. Everyone dived behind whatever they could, the Warthogs mvoing past harmlessly. But as he jumped, Utah accidently threw Zeta's chip into the air. California gave a yell of anger and lept towards the chip, her fingers about to grasp around it when someone else did. Eyes wide with obvious insantiy, Agent Idaho roared past on a jetpack, grabbing the chip and laughing as he flew away. Amazingly, the whole group of soliders manage to yell "Fuck!" and the exact same time.  
"Who in the fuck is that prick?" California screamed above the receeding warthogs. Washinggton shook his head. "We'll explain later! DO you have any vehicles!" At this, California smiled and activated a command in her helmet. The top of her huge vehichle began to open. She grinned like a maniac.  
"Oh, I do."

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"Holy shit! This is crazy!" Simmons screamed as they sped faster then ever on the upgraded Mongoose. Grif was slouched forward, focused on the two Warthogs ahead of them. Behind them, two more Warthogs were slowley getting faster. Washington drove one, with Caboose and Tex with him. Indiana was driving the other, Church at his side, Utah with him in the gunning turret. Above them flew a Hornet, driven by Lopez, Donut manning the gunning posistion. Sister had been left with California, due to Grif's badgering. Ahead, the two Warthogs (which Idaho now landed on one) were joined by two Hornets. Idaho and his troops had clearly noticed, and were attempting to go even faster. Fortunently, all of the Reds, Blues, and Freelancers vehciles were augmented with California's tech, and promptly were side by side with Idaho.

Idaho cursed. Using his abilities, he threw a nearby boulder at Grif's Mongoose, who quickly swerved to avoid it. As this happened, the other enemy Warthog slammed into Washington's Warthog. The jeep bucked, and as this happened, Tex leaped from the Warthog unto the enemies, entering melee combat with the three occupants. The Hornet above suddenly slowed slipping deftly behind. They opened fire, damaging the left wing. Lopez began to signal distress (in Spanish), and then apparently veered away from the battle. The enemy Hornet began to fly down towards the Warthogs, when Lopez's Hornet came out of nowhere and slammed into it. Together, the two ships fell towards the snow.

"Oh shit, I hope they're okay!" Simmons yelled at Grif. Grif made a gun gesture with his right hand. Simmons looked forward and saw the other Hornet just above them. Simmons nodded, and pulled out the Rocket Launcher strapped to his back. Aiming carefully, he prepared his shot.  
Tex, however, was struggling with the three enemy soliders. With inhuman yells, one slipped behind Tex, holding her still, as the second began to beat her with the butt of his gun. However, he stopped when he heard a yell coming from the other side of the Warthog. Indiana's Warthog veered towards them, as Church lept from the Warthog to assist Tex. Pulling the solider of Tex, together they managed to throw the three soliders from the Warthog and into the snow, where they began to rise. A defeaning explosion split the air, and a smoking Hornet landed upon them. Church gave the thumbs up to Simmons, and dug his heel into the accelerater.

All that was left was Idaho's Warthog. He had evaded them for a good forty minutes, but now they had him. He sat alone with another solider, who was attemtping to get every mile out of the vehicle as possible. Idaho threw boulders, snow, wreakage at the Red, Blues, and Freelancers. Nothing worked. He became more desperate, shouting threats, anything to stop their advance.

He didn't see it. With a roar akin to a thousand soliders, California's huge transport-vehicle appeared ahead. A large rocket launcher turret sat upon it, obiously auto-animated. Above the screaming wind, roaring vehicles, and threats of Idaho, a single line was heard.

"I thought you were better then that, Idaho."

The turret opened fire. With horror, Idaho faced down the rockets. Using his powers, he attempted to redirect the closest rocket. But as it turned, it struck the next one, igniting them all. Due to being a small distance away, they didn't kill Idaho, as he lept from the Warthog as they exploded, but he was sent a decent distance away. A noticable CRACK was heard as the Reds, Blues, and Freelancers vehicles came to a stop. Everyone got out of their cars, brandishing weapons. Califronia was armed with a blue rifle-like weapon. They surrounded Idaho, all weapons drawn. Forcing himself to stand, Idaho looked around. "Well...Well...Well...You finally got me. I have nothing to use to escape. I am beaten, I am exausted, I am...defeated. I cannot defeat you. But..." He pulled out the small chip. "I can destroy this-" He was cut off by the roar of engines.

Above them, a Hornet was flying. Lopez and Donut were inside, but someone else was with them. A man in white armour. Donut, in particular, looked worried. Idaho grinned, insantiy etched on his face. The solider leaped out of the Hornet. Landing directly in front Idaho. Everyone stood in shock. Everyone stood at the man they wanted revenge against. Between them all stood Agent Maine. Idaho stepped towards him, reaching out for support. In two strides, it was over.  
Maine stabbed Idaho in the chest with his Brute Shot, easily breaking through the plate armour. With eyes wide with suprise, Idaho fell backwards into the snow, the AI chip falling. Landing, Idaho stared upwards.  
"It's so...dark. Calif..." His eyes glazed over.

A/N: And thus, I make my triumpthet return to writing! Sorry about the very long wait, but I've been very busy for a long time, but with this, I return to my frequent writing! Stay tuned for the next chapter!


	9. Plan

Red vs. Blue: Zero Chances

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Chapter VIII: Plan

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A/N: As always, this fan fiction follows continuity until the end of Season 8. Storylines of Season 9 onwards is disregarded.

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He lay there, completely still, his eyes wide at his last sight. Finally, he was dead. Agent Idaho, one of the most psychopathic (and thus, dangerous) members of Project Freelancer, was dead. But, ironically, the Reds, Blues, and four Freelancers were no longer staring at their fallen enemy. A new danger had entered the field. Something bigger, stronger, madder, more dangerous. Agent Maine stood as still as a statue, grasping his brute shot, staring at the group of Sim Soldiers. No one said a word. A full minute passed, before Grif stepped forward. Simmons reached out to pull him back, but Grif knocked his arm back. "No." He whispered through his teeth. "I have to do this. For him." He strode right up to Maine, staring him right in the golden dome of a helmet.

"Why?" He simply said. "Why did you kill your fucking team-mate? I'm even surprised you ever had one. That's all your good for. Killing. First you killed Alpha, and then you tried to kill us all...And then you finally suceeded at one. You killed Sarge, and now you killed your own man! WHY DID YOU KILL SARGE!?" His pulled his fist back for a punch, but his arm was grabbed from behind by someone. Turning, seething with anger, Simmons and Donut stood with him, Simmons holding him back.

"Enough, Grif." Grif looked down, anger pulsing from him. As Simmons and Donut led him away, Agent California stepped forward, towards her former comrade.

"(Crazy Tech Lady is going to get herself killed. Like Father.)" Lopez muttered in Spanish. No one paid him any mind.

"Maine." California nodded to him, hesitantly. Snow fluttered around them. Maine remained silent, motionless, still. California sighed. "It's terrible what happened to you, all those years ago. It still hurts, doesn't it? The gunshot wounds?" Maine continued to remain still, but then he nodded oh-so-slightly. California frowned with sadness.

Back where the others stood, Simmons crossed his arms. "I still don't trust him. What he has done..." Simmons trailed of. Washington nodded. "It's true. Sure, I had to work with him, but that was different. I had to get free. It was…complicated." Church just stared at the two Freelancers, watching them look at each other in silence. Feeling for his frenemy, Grif approached Church, cautiously speaking to him.

"Are you okay, Church? I mean, so much shit has happened so recently…Zero's attack, the new Freelancers, Tuck-"At his name, Church turned and started at Grif with almost physical anger. "Don't you dare say his name? It was my fault that he got taken! Don't you fucking speak to me about Tucker?" Grif, with a now hurt expression, retreated back to the rest of the group, wondering if Church would ever recover from this anger-fuelled depression. At the moment, it looked unlikely. Maine and California continued to 'speak' for a time, and by the time she had finally returned to the group, leaving the speechless Maine standing in the snow, the sun was beginning to set. She had in her hand the AI of Idaho, Lambda.

"I and Maine are creating a plan. You guys should into my vehicle; it's warm in there, and you're going to freeze out here if you don't come in." No one was going to protest. She led them inside the transport-vehicle; it was the size of three Elephants, but it appeared to be modified for extra speed, making it possible to go faster than a Warthog. The driver would just have to hope the road was straight.

There were five main rooms within the vehicle; two rooms had bunk beds, six to a room, crammed in. In the belly of the beast was a great command room. Up the front of the monstrosity was the pilot's room, and a kitchen/eating /living-esque room was at the back. Ten of the twelve companions crammed into the room; Lopez was forced to use his scanners to hear from the next room and Maine had to stand in the doorway; but they managed to fit. California seated herself in the (noticeably softer) centre chair, and began to speak.

"The war against Zero and his forces goes badly. The soldiers are incredibly resourful, and we lose five men against one of them. We win a battle here and there, but for the most part, Zero dominates the battles. Recently, Blood Gulch was taken by a renewed assault; Utah, I'm sorry, but they took Illinois's body." Utah stared at her in shock, and the big man put his head in his hands, where they remained for a very long while. "Anyway," California continued "With our present resources, the UNSC will be overwhelmed by Zero's armies within two months if things do not change. That is where we come in: We are going to carry out an operation to bring down Zero, and if we don't, we'll at least cripple his resources. We're going to charge into the hornet's nest, the shark pool, the black hole; We're going to launch an attack on the Zero's warship, _The Terror of Power_."  
"But wait." Donut cut in. "How are we going to slip into a –spacecraft-?" He asked.

"That's why we have to hurry now. _The Terror of Power_ is going to be docked at Xenolance Station in four days, where it will be restocked and refiled over the course of three days. That gives us a three day window to get in, sabotage the ship, kill any of Zero's personal, if not Zero he, and if possible, rescue the prisoner's held on the ship." At that, Church looked up. "Prisoners? Does that mean-"  
California nodded. "Maine spoke to me about the prisoners present on the Terror. Corporal Tucker is present, along with two generals and someone called 'Project Dual blade'. We're going to try and save him Church- believe me." Church nodded resolutely, his eyes seemed to be seeing properly for the first time see the Battle of Blood Gulch." California stood up. "Alright everyone. We move out in the morning for Xenolance Station; we're going to be moving into enemy territory, through a Zero-occupied city, so you guys need to be rested. Maine, Wash, Utah, Indiana, I need to speak to you on the pilot deck. Everyone else, get some rest; trust me, you're going to need it.

For the Reds and Blues, it was hard to sleep in the steel behemoth. Every noise was amplified by the echoes, and it rung for minutes on end. One by one, the Reds and Blues dropped off to sleep, last of all Church, who was left awake thinking about the upcoming mission. "Tucker." He murmured. "Stay strong. We're coming."

Up in the pilot deck, the Freelancers, minus Tex, conveyed to figure out the upcoming plan. Indiana was the first to speak.

"Luckily, odds of success are higher now with my brother dead. His insanity will no longer be an issue." He said bluntly. Washington piped up. "But…He was your brother. Don't you feel anything?" Indiana gave a Washington a cold, cold stare. "Those bridges were burned." California spoke above them. "Anyway." She began. "I'm not sure if we should bring these Sim troopers with us, least of all Church and Tex. We all know what the Alpha is capable of. If he reunites with-" 

"No. That won't happen." Utah murmured. "Illinois told me if he was to die, to not give Church access to Zeta. Keep Lambda away from him as well. We don't want to trigger him. It would mean the end of us all."


	10. Journey

Red vs Blue: Zero Chances

Chapter IX: Journey

The trip to Xenolance station was a long, relatively boring one, which was honestly a nice change from the constant fighting the Reds and Blues were used to recently. The first two days of travelling to cross the ice fields passed slowly, which mostly consisted of the various members of the team just having a general poke around the ship. Besides Grif, who just stayed in his bunk and slept the entire two days, waking only to eat. Church, on the other hand, found himself talking to Califronia. He had to ask her something, something important. Something that had been nagging him for months, something about his very being.

"California." Church began. "There is something I've needed to know for a long time, and with everything that has happened, I'm not quite clear anymore…I know I'm an AI, but am I Alpha, or Epsilon?" She knew everything about top-secret tech. California sat down in her chair and crossed her arms.  
"Both. I know of the item that Zero used to 'resseruct you.' When he found you in the failed capture device used by Wash and Maine, there wasn't enough of your…data, remaining. So, to bring you back, Zero did something crazy. Using DNA recovered from the Director's files…" Washington, hearing his name mentioned, entered and interrupted. "Did anyone ever find the Director? I've heard nothing for the last year on him. California grunted. "Nothing. We still haven't found him. The DNA was located in the files he used, regarding the TEXAS project. Anyways, using DNA found in the files, and remaing data of the Alpha and Epsilon, along with tertiary data on four other AI, he managed to create..you. You are some kind of amalgation of the Alpha and Epsilon. More Epsilon then Alpha, but his potential sleeps within you…"

Church seemed a bit…disturbed, to put it frank. Washington scratched his grey hair. "I say we keep this info between ourselves. I don't trust Maine, and some of the sim troopers." Church glared at Washington at this remark. "Those…Sim Troopers…are idiots. They are stupid, and incompetent, but they are trustworthy. Only good thing about them. Even Tucker…" He went quiet. They had to find Tucker. Washington and California realised why he'd stopped talking. Church left the two of them, heading to the back of the behemoth. They had to find Tucker. He couldn't be dead.

They had to find him.

"Why did Church bring us with him Why did Utah, and Indiana?" Grif asked to no one in particular. Immedietly, Sarge began to rant about some sort of vast blue conspiracy, resulting in the other members of the Reds excluding him from the wider discussion. "Maybe." Donut began. "He just thinks of us as friends." Simmons gave a sarcastic laugh. "Yeah, and I'm not 1/8th cyborg. Church has never thought of us as friends. We're just help in all of this. The Freelancers probably think of us the same." Grif nodded in agreement. Donut seemed disappointed. Sarge continued to rant, unheard.

"Are we useful, then? Do we have a use? Or do they value even The Meta over us?" Donut murmured, dejected. Everyone went quiet. The silence was broken by a surpise voice.

"You are useful." Indiana's soft voice would have not been audiable moments earlier. He slowly entered the room. "How? How are we useful compared to you Freelancers, or Church even at that matter?" Indiana gave the smallest of smiles; one when he was amused. "Because, my companions, it is because you have not become dependent, as we have." Grif and Simmons crossed their arms. "Dependent? How? On what?" Indiana gave a sad little smile. It was one of the few times he had showed any kind of emotion.

"As you know…we are Freelancers, many of us implanted with AI. Me; I have the AI Mu. He is what gave me my telekentic powers. Illinois…was impanted with Zeta, giving him his summoning abilities. Utah was smart; he could have been implanted with an AI to augment his strength even further; he refused." Donut shuddered at the thought. In his normal state, Utah managed to physically match The Meta. "After years, and years of impntation, it gets to the point where we…rely, on our AI. Agent Maine…he's one of those who have suffered most. All those things he did to you and your team members, certainly, he had some awareness he was doing it, but, remember…Having close to a dozen voices screaming out and once, and then having them extinguished?..." Indiana went silent for a long time.

"When it comes to me, Mu speaks to me in my mind. Once, he was taken out, a year ago. I was lost for that time. I neither spoke nor ate. Only when he returned to me I was whole again. Remember when you came for me?" They nodded. He'd been convinced they had came to take Mu. "My AI, Mu, is one of a pair. The other, Nu, is held by Zero. That's why he has such augmented powers. Nu was the natural progression of Mu. However, Command attempted to create an augmented version of Mu and Nu, which was named Lambda. That was given to Idaho…my brother."

"It didn't work. Sure, it gave his augmented abilities…but, it cost him his sanity. California was the one person who managed to get through to him…but…" He seemed sad, looking out the window at the desert they were travelling through. He suddenly seemed aware of where he was. "I'm sorry…I rambled on. My original point was, you people are valuable because you have certain skills. For one, you seem to have a knack for getting into battles with Freelancers; and surviving. You also seem to have some form of brotherhood among yourselves. And, you have all not been implanted with AI." He smiled.

"What does that have to do with it? Even if we were, we wouldn't have become dependent at that point." Simmons protested. Indiana stood up, heading towards the door. "It's has everything to do with it. Because…I know we can trust you." And with that, he strode from the room, leaving the Red Team to contemplate his words. Donut laughed.

Tex and Utah stepped off of the vehicle. They had finally arrived. They had eighteen hours to slip into the port of Xenolance, invade The Terror of Power, and do everything they could to battle Zero. They joined the rest of their unit, who had gathered just outside. Tex looked back at the giant tank. There was nothing there. She said nothing. That was what California did. Secrets.

"Alright." California began. "Here we are, take one for each of you." She held in her arms a stack of braclets, enough for each of them. "Top-secret tech. Created by my section. Short-range teleporters. Very unstable." Simmons gulped. "Unstable?" California laughed behind her armour. "Don't worry, nerdlinger. I meant the power source. We have enough energy to lock unto a power signature within the Terror of Power. It's our only way in. We teleport." No one but the Freelancers seemed to have faith in this plan. "Anyway." Cali continued. "These things only work once. We haven't been able to extend it at all. We're going to teleport into the biggest power signature in there. The core. Then, we divide into teams.

Simmons, Utah, you two will be working in the power core. Simmons, besides me, you are the most technical. You will work to overload the core so we destroy the Terror. Do not ignite the core until I give the order. We might be able to steal the ship altogether. Utah, you will guard him from anything that isn't us." The two nodded. "At least I can do that…" Simmons nodded again.

"Sister, Church, Caboose, Donut, Indiana, Maine. You six will find the prisoners of Zero. Priority goes to Tucker and whoever project Dualblade is. Once you've secured the prisoners, find Tucker's sword. It will be stored serperatley." Maine growled. Obviously, he didn't want to be in that team. He wanted to fight Zero. "Maine, you must keep Church safe, in case-" She stopped herself. "Anyhow."

"Myself, Utah, Sarge, Grif, Washington. Tex" Us four will secure The Terror's bridge. As far as my intel goes, for the next eight hours, Zero will be off-site. We must take control of the ship before Zero notices our presence. Grif, you may have to fly the ship. I've heard you're an excellent pilot." Grif stammered, not knowing if she was joking or not.

"Remember everyone, this is our one shot of winning this war against Zero. Let luck guide us or all, and let's hope we can end this war once and for all! Let's kick some ass!" Everyone yelled, even Maine. "Everyone teleport on my mark."

"MARK!"

They teleported into the belly of the beast.


End file.
